Last summer, I spent a month in Nepal volunteering at a health clinic in Bhadrabas, a rural village just outside of Kathmandu. The experience was significant for me in a number of ways. Though I have traveled considerably in the past, I had never witnessed first hand the challenges of third-world poverty. The clinic I worked at was small, busy, and desperately short of resources. As a new volunteer with virtually no previous medical training, I did my best to help serve in the ways I could. I helped keep records, dressed wounds, and comforted patients, mostly children, undergoing painful procedures. When I was not working, I spent my time studying Nepali and reading Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook, to enhance my ability to provide support. Volunteering at that health clinic was powerful for me because not only did I have the opportunity to assist those in need, but I found that working in the context of health care was uniquely fulfilling. Now more than ever, I...
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